I went into Nairobi early today with the intention of visiting the National Museum. However, the bus that was supposed to take me there never showed up at the bus stop. Since it was a holiday – Good Friday – and the museum closes at 5:30, I instead just spent some time in City Centre in Nairobi before taking the bus to Junction, where I was supposed to meet Kelsey and our friend Matt from safari. At Junction I ran into Alex and the girls she is working with in Mlonglo, which was so cool! They were all fantastic, and it was great to see Alex and hear about her new program. We all got Fro-Yo together and then went up to the Irish pub and restaurant on the third floor of Junction. It was great to just relax and hear about Mombasa. Kelsey and I really don’t go out in Rongai, just bump between school and home with the weekend excursion to Bomas, so it was a lot of fun to just be somewhere else and hanging out with new faces.
At 9:30, we caught our bus to Mombasa. Our seats were the worst, crammed into the back. It was a nightmare of a bus ride. Our bus, which clearly had problems from Nairobi, broke down about two and a half hours into the trip. We had to wait on the side of the road until 3 am for a mechanic to be called from Nairobi. The bus people did not even tell us what was going on, which upset everyone. Talking to a woman sitting ahead of us, she discussed how here people just accept the way things are and do not try to change them. For example, everyone would just sit and wait and not challenge the bus company or pressure them to send a new bus or provide refunds. African buses are not like American buses, either. There are no bathrooms and this one was not nearly as comfortable. Our 8 – 10 hour bus ride turned into about 17. We were just so thankful to reach Mombasa and get off.
When we got there, I was not prepared for how hot it was: approximately 10° C hotter than in Nairobi. Of course, I only brought 1 real pair of shorts with me to Kenya, thinking that I would not be wearing them. Not the smartest move. Matt, Kelsey, and I took a tuk-tuk from Mombasa to our hostel on Diani Beach. A tuk-tuk is like a large roofed scooter that can accommodate 3 passengers, and they are cheaper, slower taxis. I had yet to see or use one, but they were all over the place in Mombasa. Our ride from Mombasa to Diani was about an hour/hour and a half, but we finally got there!
Our hostel, Southcoast Backpackers, was beautiful. It was a large house with a pool, outdoor bar, and a beautiful grassy lawn, not to mention a 7 minute walk to gorgeous Diani Beach. The two guys running it, Louis and Kevin, were both in their 20s and from France, and they were both so awesome and welcoming. Everyone staying there was in their 20s, and so, much like the camaraderie at the volunteer house, we all got on really well. There were even dogs! There was a big Rottweiler named Simba, Kiswahili for “lion” and two little fluffy dogs named Matiti and Matako. Apparently, there are a lot of these fluffy dogs in Diani, as they were prized by the Arabs that made, and still make up, a significant portion of the population. They were so cute, and reminded me of Kipper!
